by Blake Proctor
In a turnabout from recent quick town meetings throughout the County, Bladenboro’s February 8th meeting was a marathon, relatively speaking, starting when Mayor Rufus Duckworth gaveled the meeting to order at 6pm and lasting well past 7pm.
Commissioner Gregory Sykes provided the invocation and attendees rose for the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. During the Open Forum, Army Sergeant First Class Vincent Phillips, the new ROTC Commandant for West Bladen High School, was on hand to introduce himself to the Board and the community.
The evening’s Consent Agenda was quickly approved, and the Board moved on to the single item of old business: the matter of repairing the wall between the Medicine Shoppe on South Main Street and where the old Hester Building had been taken down by the Town.
Town Administrator Oryan Lowry presented a formal statement from Professional Land Surveyor Lloyd Walker attesting that the masonry south wall of the Medicine Shoppe is indeed on the Medicine Shoppe’s property, not on the property of the demolished Hester Building.
Responsibility for mitigating damage to the wall therefore falls on the Town. Mr. Lowry provided an initial estimate of $3,500 for these repairs.
In new business, Bryon Scott with the regional CPA firm of Thompson, Price, Scott, Adams $ Co,, was present to review the draft audit document with the Board prior to its delivery to the NC Local Government Commission for their assessment and approval.
In a nutshell, the Town’s financial condition improved markedly during Fiscal Year 2019-2020 over the previous year: General Fund Net Revenues nearly doubled to $428,250. The Undesignated Fund Balance ratio rose from 44% to 75.8%, numbers that will undoubtedly warm LGC’s hearts.
In the Water & Sewer Fund, Net Revenues were $99,703, reversing several continuous years of operating losses.
Collections of property taxes decreased. County taxes across the state, and probably nationally as well, due to the effects of the ongoing Xi Jinpingfluenza pandemic.
A January letter from Ms. Julie Cubeta of the NC Division of Water Infrastructure indicated that her office had found that the emergency generator project budget was incorrectly allocated, with a $45,000 line item in the wrong account; the money is not lost, but a grant amendment was required to keep the accounting straight. That amendment was quickly approved.
A letter from Chris Williams, Director of the Bladen County Board of Elections alerted the Commission that, under state statute, if Bladenboro had opted out of one-stop voting in the last municipal election, but wished to participate in 2021, a new resolution would be required.
The same requirement applies if the Town had participated in the past but would like to now opt out. Alternative resolutions were presented for consideration, but the matter was tabled for further study; it should be brought back up at the March 8th meeting.
The 2020 Tax Lien advertisement was presented for the Board’s consideration as required under state law. It was approved unanimously without further discussion.
Also approved was the proposed Budget Calendar for the preparation and adoption of the 2021-2022 Annual Budget; it had been presented initially to ensure there were no scheduling conflicts with any commissioners.
The Board then turned to the continuing issues with a long-term drainage problem on Pine Ridge Circle. Discussion centered on alternatives for rerouting the water away from private properties; the agreed-upon consensus solution was to place a drainpipe under the road to connect to an existing nearby ditch system.
The matter of a water meter upgrade to provide automatic meter reading devices (AMRs) was tabled for discussed during the capital purchases portion of the upcoming budget debates.
In his Administrator’s Report, Mr. Lowry informed the Board that the five water & sewer system generators have arrived, and the concrete slabs have been poured. All that is needed now is to connect the electric wiring and begin testing the generators.
Lastly, Mr. Lowry proudly announced that he is one of twenty-five municipal managers of 500 applicants nationwide to be invited to the International City/County Management Association’s (ICMA’s) inaugural class of the Leadership Institute on Race, Equity, and Inclusion. This Institute was created to address nation-wide systemic racism.
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 7:19pm.
About Author
